Restless Spirit
by Witchisis
Summary: A tale of actual incident in Florida.


'I won! I won!' exclaimed ten year-old Elys. Jess looks at her friend and pouts, 'I will win next time and I am taking Chun Li this time.'

It was late and Elys Clark was spending the night in her friend's trailer home in a park in Florida, Melbourne. They could not sleep so they decided to stay up and play video games.

Elys has long straight red hair which she pulled into a ponytail. She was taller, slightly bigger built and she looks much elder than Jessica Gabral, though they both were in the same grade.

Jessica was of the shorter version and looks younger for her age. She has short blond curly hair which she tied into pigtails. Her hair was slightly messed up, the locks sticking onto her damp forehead as she concentrated on moving the joystick to win her game.

From the corner of the room, Mark Gabral popped out and jumped onto his sister, frightening her and made her lose the game once again.

'Mark!' she shrieked, 'You ought to be in bed. You made me lose my game,' scolded Jessica. Mark shrugged and sat down beside them. 'I can't sleep and it's too hot in here', he exclaimed, wiping away the beads of sweat forming on his forehead and pushing away his messy dark brown wavy hair that was sticking onto his forehead.

Mark was six year old and since they do not have any siblings, he loved to hang around with his sister and Elys whenever she comes by. He was close to Elys as she loved him like her own brother.

Jessica turned to Elys with a smirk on her face, 'Shall we challenge soccer instead? It would also be the best way to get Mark tired enough to get to bed.'

Elys nodded and Mark rushed off to get his soccer ball while the two girls turned off the television set. They went out of the trailer and walked into the park.

'Here! Here!' Mark called, jumping excitedly, raising his hand above his head, waiting to catch the ball. Elys threw the ball forward stronger than she intended and the ball shot behind him and into the dark forest.

The park was dark and the moon was waning. Elys voted to find for the ball but Mark said he would and rushed into the dark forest. Afraid Mark might lose his path, Jessica rushed forward after Mark with Elys trailing behind her.

As Jessica entered the darkness, she saw the soccer ball beside a fat tree. She picked up the ball and looked for Mark; he was nowhere in sight. 'Wait here, I will find him.' Elys said and rushed deep into the forest, leaving Jessica alone.

As Elys was calling out to Mark, she heard Jessica screamed and rushed back to where she left her. Jessica was on the ground, pressing the ball onto her chest, her body curled and trembling with fear. Elys rushed to her side and held her shoulder, 'What happened? Why did you scream?'

Jessica looked up at her, her eyes glowing with fear, and pointed up at the fat tree, her fingers trembling. Elys looked up at the tree and saw a dark liquid flowing down to the ground. Tentatively, she dipped a finger on it and examined the dark sticky liquid. With the help of the dim moonlight, she saw the liquid was in a dark crimson red.

Elys turned to her petrified friend, 'What happened here?' Jessica stammered, 'I-I saw a boy. Mark-Mark was hanging on that tree like he was stabbed to it. He was bleeding all over. A-A branch was sticking out of him.' She broke into tears and clutched tightly at the ball.

Elys looked up at the tree again and as she did, she heard a cry coming from below the tree. Looking down she saw a boy with dark hair standing and looking straight at her. He was of the same height and age of Mark. Strangely, in the place of a pair of eyes stood a gaping hole and dark stains were smeared all over him. His t-shirt was tattered and filled with holes.

Thinking it was Mark, Elys walked forward and asked if he was hurt. The boy stood there silently, staring at her. Just then Elys heard a rustling sound nearby and out came Mark from the thick bushes beside her. Looking at Mark, Elys stood dumbstruck staring from Mark to the boy. That was when the boy's gaping eyes started to glow in an empty red light and he moved forward, breaking Elys' silence. 'Run!' she shouted at the siblings.

Mark and Jessica froze at the sight of the moving boy. Realizing this, Elys pulled at them and pushed them to run forward. Awakening from the shock, they scrambled forward, through the overgrown grasses and bushes. Elys turned over her shoulders and saw the boy shifting his foot forward towards her, picking up the space in between.

Jessica screamed and fell; Elys turned back towards her and helped her up. As Jessica turned to face Elys, her face turned paled in the dimly light of the waning moon. Looking over her shoulders, Elys saw the boy inches away from her. Elys pushed Jessica gently as she ran, screaming out from the woods. Elys saw the boy raised his hand to attack her, she moved away and he hit her leg instead.

The boy cackled eerily, his laughter ringing through the forest, as if cheering at his victory. Wincing in pain and fear, Elys scrambled forward, not looking back and finally reached the Gabral's trailer. The siblings were already there with Mr. and Mrs. Gabral, crying and trembling in fear.

Mrs. Gabral, in a state of confusion and shocked asked Elys what had happened. Elys related to her the whole incident that occurred. Gazing at Elys' bleeding wound, her face turned pale as it was a four clawed mark. It isn't possible for a twig or branch to produce such accurate scratches. She told them to get inside the trailer and locked the door behind. While nursing Elys' leg, she asked, 'You said you saw a boy?' Elys nodded. 'Was the boy in a tattered shirt with holes all over it and his wrists and neck deeply slit?' Elys looked at Mrs. Gabral, 'Yes,' she replied, shockingly.

Mr. and Mrs. Gabral looked at each other with paled face. Mr. Gabral nodded at his wife. 'An incident happened not long before in these very woods. A young boy was kidnapped and murdered. His body was found near a tree with his neck and wrists slit. No one knew why his shirt was tattered with holes but people have reportedly seen him around. He hates adults and will hurt them but he usually plays with kids,' she explained.

Elys cried hearing the story, letting out her fears and pain. She knew why the boy attacked her but not Jessica and Mark. He must have thought she was an adult.


End file.
